There is nothing like a first impression, and that is the purpose of your LinkedIn profile headline. If your LinkedIn Profile Headline does not make an immediate impact on its intended audience, you could end up losing your goal of making an impact with your LinkedIn profile. The following article will provide you with great points on how to create an effective LinkedIn profile that will make an impact on your intended audience reading your LinkedIn Profile.
How Many Characters are You Allowed for Your LinkedIn Profile Headline?
Before you write your LinkedIn Profile headline, it is a good idea to understand the limitations of the amount the characters you can use for your LinkedIn profile. You are only allowed 120 characters or approximately only 12-15 words for your LinkedIn profile headline. Within these limited 12-15 words, you must write a compelling headline that will resonate with your target audience.
Do Not Let LinkedIn Dictate Your LinkedIn Profile Headline
Unless you personally change your LinkedIn, Profile headline LinkedIn will automatically just put your current job and past education as your headline. This is not the LinkedIn headline that will make an impact on you as it will be very generic, dull, and boring. Instead, you need to create a compelling, exciting headline that is going to grab your audiences’ attention. You will learn this as you read this article.
How to Write a Compelling LinkedIn Profile Headline
Below you will learn the key points in creating an effective LinkedIn profile headline that will be compelling to your audience.
Your LinkedIn Profile Headline Must be Focused
Unless people understand right away who you are when reading your LinkedIn Profile headline, they will most likely skip reading the rest of your profile. If you are a Marketing Manager who works in banking that should be in your headline. As opposed to writing about something not related to your career like you enjoy photography. The more focused you are on your LinkedIn Profile Headline, the higher the likelihood people will be interested in your profile.
Your LinkedIn Profile Headline Must Contain Your Most Positive Career Attributes
Everyone has something positive they have achieved in their career, and it is a matter of making a list to determine what should be included in your LinkedIn Profile headline section. Examples might be listing an accomplishment like winning an award, or using positive adjectives like leading, innovative, detailed orientated, results orientated, revenue generator, and other examples such as these. You might even list years of experience to show you are experienced. My advice on this is not to over list your years of experience to avoid age discrimination. Later, in this article, you will see actual examples as a way to learn.
Do not Waste Words
When thinking of your 12-15 words to write, do not waste words other than words about positive attributes about you or connecting words. A lot of LinkedIn users make a mistake and try to be cute in their headlines such as listing hobbies, interests, or family life. This is a huge mistake as they are wasting space that could have been used for better word choices.
Your LinkedIn Profile Headline Must Be Written Professionally
If your LinkedIn Profile Headline is not written professionally, you are going to get people interested in reading your profile. Instead, they are going to skip your LinkedIn Profile altogether. Things to consider in terms of writing a professionally written LinkedIn Profile Headline includes ensuring it is spotless in terms of spelling, grammar, and other English writing etiquettes. It also must be written in the language of an educated professional, or you will appear to be incompetent. It is well worth the time to spend on your LinkedIn Profile headline in order that your target audience views you as a professional.
Examples of LinkedIn Profile Headline
The best way to learn how to do something is to see examples, and below, I am going to provide you will some examples for writing your LinkedIn profile headline. This will cover examples for different professions and career levels.
Executive LinkedIn Profile Headline Example
Transformational Healthcare CEO with extensive experience turning around struggling hospitals.
Sales Professional LinkedIn Profile Headline Example
Results orientated Account Manager with a track record of hitting targets in the insurance industry.
Entry-Level Job Seeker
Entry level marketing specialist with high GPA and marketing internship experience.
Senior Software Developer
.Net Developer with 15+ years of experience with financial trading systems.
Accounting Director
CPA with over 10+ years of leading accounting teams in the manufacturing industry.
Conclusion
You only have 12-15 words in Your LinkedIn Profile headline to resonate with people who view your profile. When choosing these limited words for your profile, you should think of some of these pointers in this article, such as having a focus for your LinkedIn Profile headline, listing positive career attributes. Also, ensuring your LinkedIn Profile headline reads professionally to your target audience. Hopefully, some of the LinkedIn Profile headlines examples I have provided will give you a good starting point in the creation of your own LinkedIn Profile headlines.
